The historical past of Jubilee Singers in Seattle

by Candace Burgess

Within the Twenties, Seattle was within the midst of a metamorphosis. Not a bustling wartime metropolis, tensions had been excessive between employers and labor unions. The wartime inhabitants grew whereas lodging turned scarce. Trauma from the outgoing Nice Influenza Pandemic of 1918 (Spanish flu) fostered a tradition of social distancing and isolation. And the Crimson Scare, in addition to the re-emergence of the KKK, additional exacerbated and codified racial animosities in opposition to minorities within the majority white city. Regardless of these adversities, Seattle nonetheless superior. It turned a cultural hub, attracting all method of artists and musicians. It’s on this context that the Fisk Jubilee Singers made their first look in Seattle.

The Fisk Jubilee Singers are an a cappella ensemble of singers comprised of Black college students from Fisk College (a traditionally Black establishment). Organized in October of 1871 to fundraise for his or her school, they popularized Negro spirituals and pioneered the observe of Jubilee ensembles.

Queen Anne Historic Society.	Seattle Union Document, April 30, 1920, web page 11.

Left: Picture of the Queen Anne Congregational Church. Courtesy of Queen Anne Historic Society. Proper: Announcement for the Fisk Jubilee Singers’ Could 1st live performance. Courtesy of Seattle Union Document Archives by way of Newspapers.com.

The group made their Seattle debut on Could 1, 1920, at Queen Anne Congregational Church (the place a KIRO TV tower now stands). As half of a bigger tour of Washington State, the live performance started at 8 PM and no admission was charged. No identified program or overview of the live performance exists right now. Nonetheless, we do know that the group had a second efficiency on Could 2 throughout the night service of the historic Mount Zion Baptist Church. We additionally know the group was effectively obtained whereas within the Puget Sound space. In a overview in Cayton’s Weekly, it was stated that “within the church buildings of Tacoma and Seattle the place they sung standing room was at a premium, and people who heard them declare them to be essentially the most great musical aggregation they’d ever heard.” Upon the group’s departure on Could 6, the Seattle Union Document said, “The Fisk Jubilee Singers have come and gone and, of their concert events, have left a path of excellent cheer and concord that can linger like a candy, fragrance.”

Cayton’s Weekly, Could 8, 1920, web page 2. Evaluation of the Fisk Jubilee Singers within the Black Newspaper Cayton’s Weekly, which was based by Seattle Republican newspaper founder Horace Cayton.

	Seattle Union Document, Could 6, 1920, web page 10.

For the Jubilee Singers, glowing opinions had been par for the course. The unique Fisk Jubilee singers (1871–1878) traveled across the continental U.S. and Europe performing for esteemed people similar to U.S. President Henry Grant, Queen Victoria, and Wilhelm I of Germany and Prussia. A second iteration of the group unaffiliated with Fisk College (1879 to 1899) was invited to carry out in Australia, India, and Japan. The third iteration (1899–right now), which got here by means of Seattle in 1920, has efficiently recorded over 41 spirituals and is formally related to Fisk College. Nonetheless, glowing opinions from the Seattle public had further weight because of the legacy of Jubilee singers in Seattle.

A Tradition of Jubilee Songs

By 1920, Seattle was no stranger to Jubilee singers. Starting in 1877, teams of Black non-Fisk Jubilee Singers would often frequent town. Troupes that got here usually to Seattle embody The Authentic Tennessee Jubilee Singers, The Kentucky Jubilee Singers, The Dixie Jubilee Singers, The Slayton Jubilee Singers, and The Williams Jubilee Singers. It’s fascinating to notice that Fisk Jubilee member Maggie Porter introduced her Jubilee group to Seattle. Additionally referred to as the Fisk Jubilee Singers, the group carried out a number of occasions between 1890 and 1904.

Black individuals within the communities surrounding Seattle additionally organized their very own teams of Jubilee Singers. In 1897, the Black neighborhood of Tacoma, Washington, fashioned the Puget Sound Jubilee Singers. The group traveled across the Puget Sound space, singing primarily for Black church buildings in Seattle and Tacoma. As such, the group usually engaged Black Seattle expertise for his or her performances. The realm additionally was dwelling to the Tacoma Jubilee Singers and the Puget Sound 4.

The Tacoma Each day Ledger, June 27, 1897, web page 8.	The Tacoma Each day Ledger, June 28, 1897, web page 4.

It could take one other 45 years for Seattle to determine its personal Jubilee group, the Fleming Jubilee Singers. Organized by M. A. Fleming, the ensemble would come to be generally known as the most effective Black vocal teams in Seattle.

Northwest Enterprise, January 24, 1936, web page 1.	Seattle Public Library, Seattle Room Digital Collections

After 1920, Jubilee singers continued to frequent Seattle till the Nineteen Forties.  Inside that timeframe, The Fisk Jubilee singers got here again no less than twice. Their final Seattle efficiency on March 22, 1946, marked one of many final Jubilee concert events heard within the metropolis. So, as we put together for the world premiere of Jubilee in Seattle, we not solely acknowledge a brand new starting but additionally rejoice the legacy of Jubilee singers in our previous.

Candace Burgess is a flexible scholar, researcher, educator, and vocalist. She holds a Bachelor and Grasp of Music in Efficiency, Voice, from Duquesne College and is at the moment pursuing her PhD in Musicology on the College of Pittsburgh’s Dietrich Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Her analysis focuses on Black historical past in Classical Vocal music. Specifically, Candace is desirous about investigating historic Black Classical music communities as seen in Brazil, Pittsburgh, and New Orleans, Louisiana.